iahphx

I have my frequent flyer tickets to Beijing for summer and the Fodor's China guidebook I checked out of the library tells me I should make summer travel arrangements months in advance. True?

If so, I can tell that we won't want to be spending our two weeks just in Beijing, and that at least a couple of domestic Chinese flights will likely be in order. Every country seems to have its quirks about saving money on airline tickets, and from what I've heard about China is that it tends to be cheaper to "just show up" and buy a ticket. For obvious reasons, though, I'd prefer not to wing it (bada bing) and would like to be able to buy deep-discount (but reliable) Chinese air tickets a couple months in advance. Given that summer is peak season for foreign visitors (who likely will want to be going to the same cities I'll be visiting), it seems like a particularly good idea for summer.

Is there any way to do this? Or do I have to just "go with the flow" if I don't want to pay the inflated foreigner prices for air travel?

Thanks for the help!!

thetick97

I booked my domestic tickets when I arrived in China through a local Chinese travel agent. A lot of hotels have a travel agency on the premises or nearby. However, prices will vary.

imho, be careful with China Eastern. I've flown them twice. First time, the flight was cancelled without notice. Second time, it was delayed 2 hours. According to my friend in China, they will cancel a flight if it is not near capacity or delay a flight until it fills to capacity.

moondog

i can relate to both comments about mu, especially during the evening rush between pek and sha (and vv).

to the op: i don't know where you got that "months in advance" advice, but i couldn't disagree more.

iahphx

As I said, it's from the Fodor's China guidebook. Whether it's true or not -- well, that's another question.

From what I've also read, the summer is a very busy time for foreigners to visit China, but not a busy time for the Chinese to tour their own country. Is that true?

So again, if I want to build an itinerary around set flights (and not have to worry about cheap seats being available) is there any way to pre-book at the discount fare level? Or are seats so plentiful it REALLY isn't worth bothering (like trying to make a dinner reservation in a restaurant that's never half full).

moondog

yeah, that's pretty much the case. there are some exceptions of course (e.g. there's only one flight per day from beijing to tibet), but in general, availability is never a problem. what is your proposed itin?

thetick97

Except during Chinese New Year, I've never had a problem booking a flight in China. Usually, a few days or even just one day in advance is no problem. Based on my own experience, travel agents in China quote a price and then offer you a discount. (anywhere from 20-40%)

moondog

usually, travel agents don't have much control over the size of the discount. discounts can be as deep as 80% btw. pek-sha, in particular, tends to feature very cheap fares.

AZ Travels the World

Does anyone know of:

1) A good schedule and/or booking engine that shows China domestic schedules (airlines like Hainan, Shandong, etc., that don't appear on Expedia, etc.)

2) Assuming there is not an on-line booking option, can anyone recommend a reputable agency for buying such tickets in advance?

Thanks!

sveg

Ctrip [english.ctrip.com].
Have used them a couple of times. Big and reputable agency. I have even seen small service offices in train stations. They will also deliver the tickets to your hotel for free. When I used them in January, I left a credit card number as a deposit and paid in cash when getting the tickets.

Yoee [yoee.com].
Haven't used them, but good booking engine. Charges a fee for delivery.

Elong [www.elong.net].
Owned by the same company as Expedia.

moondog

i don't like elong and i've never used yoee, but find ctrip to be quite useful for checking fares/schedules (chinese version only) and booking tickets. their phone lines are open 24 hours per day and hold times are minimal. no foreign cards though.

iahphx

thanks for the info everyone. I'm in the VERY early stages of planning an itinerary (hey -- my trip's almost 6 months away!). I'd like to get an idea of how much an internal China air ticket cost before trying to decide how many cities to visit. I also wanted to know if I'd save money flying multiple legs as part of an airpass (apparently not!).

So, for example, to fly 500 miles in China, about how much will it cost me? Or are the fares very route-specfic, like in the US? And are kids under 12 cheaper?

Thanks for the input. Eventually, I'd really like to nail down my reservation before I arrive in China, but it still sounds like that might not be the best approach (darn).

moondog

there is a strong correlation between full fare and distance traveled, but some routes tend to experience greater discounts from full fare than others. for more info, check out this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=480198

iahphx

Very cool list. Thanks! Now I've got to learn my Chinese airport codes.

In a nutshell, if I'm reading this right, I could expect to pay about $60 to $80 to fly 500 miles, right? Do you know whether kids get a discount off that promo fare, or not?

sveg

This might have changed since January, but I used a Norwegian Mastercard to guarantee my booking with Ctrip. However, payment was done in cash when the tickets were delivered to my hotel.

moondog

They don't require any guarantee at all. (I would never give those guys my cc number; fortunately, they've never asked.)

Edited to add: It doesn't surprise me that they asked you for a cc, assuming you didn't have a purchase history with them, but I think you could have said, "no," and still gotten your tickets.